Magic Tricks and Bad Tea
by Desert Willow
Summary: A collection of various drabbles and one shots. Mostly Mai and Naru based but some other pairings might come up. Drabble #2: The wedding of Mai and Naru was a bit weird. Naru/Mai
1. Cambridge

Dr. Oliver Davis, Noll to some, Naru to a precious few, was not by nature a sigh-er. Sure, he may let out an exasperated breath on occasion, but it never came from wistfulness and it was more to annoy those around him. Sighing denoted a weakness of character that he certainly did his best not to have. Nostalgic, sentimental... average. Noll was not average and he did not indulge in the bad habits of those with lesser intelligence. Life moves on, no point in dwelling on it. However, had Noll been a sigh-er, he would have let out a wistful puff of air as he stood on the Silver Street bridge.

He watched the drunken underclassman and stupid tourists punt down the River Cam, taking pictures of the Wooden Bridge knowing that they thought, incorrectly, that Sir Isaac Newton designed it. Idiots.

Since his return to England and to his studies at St. John's, academics had not held the appeal they once did. He'd been called "idiot scientist" and "stupid nerd" but honestly, once he got out of the lab and found practical use for his skills in the field, getting his actual degree seemed mundane. Gene liked fieldwork, Noll (was supposed to) like research. But now, the things that used to fascinate him, barely occupied his thoughts. And the things he used to barely tolerate, were now just flat out unendurable. Lin wouldn't write up his lab reports for him (despite trying to threaten, barter and bribe the taciturn man), there were far more tourists everywhere than the spring usually sported (enjoying the unseasonably good weather), and he still hadn't found the right way to make his tea (or someone to do it for him). And once you have faced down a god, what's a hostile research assistant or two.

The wind blew off the river, through the willows and ruffled his hair. It was a surprisingly warm day, and everyone was enjoying it. Even the idiot scientist who decided to walk back to the home he shared with his parents on Millington Road, instead of taking a cab as usual. Noll was beginning to think it was a mistake; too much time spent alone with his thoughts with nothing to do but either put one foot in front of the other or stare like an idiot at a river and an old bridge.

He observed a group of St. Andrew's girls eyeing him while trying (and failing) to be discreet with their giggles. As annoying as they were at least they were only teenage girls checking out a cute boy, instead of talking about "the genius who lost his twin."

He missed Japan. He missed the anonymity he enjoyed there. There he wasn't Dr. Davis, the famous psychic. There he wasn't Oliver Davis, that second year know-it-all. He wasn't even Noll-be-a-dear-and-take-out-the-rubbish-by-the-doo r. He was just Naru. He had his power, his intelligence, and his responsibilities, but back in Japan he also had freedom.

Cambridge was a small town, and while a large portion of its population were college students and would be gone in only a few years, it made the locals very aware of all of the other local's business. Even without his fame, Noll could not simply do as he pleased in his hometown. It would get back to his parents or his professors or, worst of all, Madoka. Even when he had tried his best to keep a low profile, he still had acquired an honorary doctorate before he had even completed his A-Levels in a town famous for its academics. His professors didn't know what to do with him, his colleagues at the lab resented him, and his classmates idolized him. While it created the isolation that Noll preferred, it also made handling any social circumstances difficult at best. And due to his and his father's position, he couldn't tell them all to just piss off like he would like to.

Wishing to go back to Japan had absolutely nothing to do with what Japan itself could offer, just what Cambridge lacked. Like interesting cases, unscalded tea, and competent, if a extremely annoying assistants. He didn't even have Lin since his work was at the London office and Noll's was at the Cavendish Lab.

Thinking of tea, Noll remembered he was almost out of his favorite Earl Grey blend. He turned back onto Trumpington Street walking towards King's Parade, thinking he'd try to catch a cab there once he was done with his errand. Pleasant walks were a waste of time. As he passed the stupid tourists taking pictures of a clock that didn't even keep accurate time, and into Benet's, he didn't even notice the sigh that escaped his lips as he thought that even the mini skirts were lacking in England, despite the unusually warm May day.

* * *

**AUTHORS NOTE:** So I plan to have this be a place to dump a bunch of one-shots and drabbles. Some will be related, some won't. Some very well might contradict each other. I'll try to make notes about them as I see needed and maybe a bit of back story at the end, in these Author Notes.

This was written a couple of years ago after I came back from studying at Cambridge, and while Naru isn't wistful, I am. I wanted to walk through the town once more and decided to use this as my medium. All of the places mentioned are real. Naru may not care for them, but I do (especially the Corpus/Time Eater Clock look that thing up, it's awesome!).

One technical note: I am pretty sure I read somewhere at some point about how Naru's PhD was just an honorary one he got after rescue in that kidnapping case he helped on. I'm pretty sure this was a canon note, but it was so long ago it was really fanon and I just made it canon in my head. If I'm wrong and I have stolen someone's idea, I am really sorry and will update this to reflect that. That said, this is why Naru is going to classes in this. I will probably visit Cambridge a lot in these one shots and will refer back to this note.

Please review! I'll try and update this frequently, but I won't lie, this is only going to be updated as the mood strikes me.

Unbeta'ed. Mistakes are mine.


	2. A Strange Affair

Thank you all for the kind words, favorites, and follows. Here's another small drabble. I know I've focused a bit more on Naru than Mai in these last two, but I have one planned out that's a bit more Mai centric for next time.

* * *

The wedding of Mai Taniyama and Dr. Oliver Davis was a strange affair... well, even stranger than one would expect from a wedding where almost all of the wedding guests were involved in paranormal research.

The groom's guestlist was quite large, inviting many old colleagues from the BSPR and friends of the family as was required by the etiquette set by the groom's parents. Meanwhile, the bride's guestlist was a small thing. It was made mostly of the staff from the Japanese branch of SPR though some friends from her school days made it out too, but many of her friends from Japan couldn't fly to England and she had no family there whatsoever. It was for this reason that they did away with Bride or Groom sides, and everyone was free to sit where they wished. Most guests understood the reasoning behind this.

The ceremony was also conducted by an Australian priest, though neither bride nor groom where religious, let alone Catholic. And it wasn't even a religious ceremony to begin with! It was for this reason that the wedding was short; it was just a few minutes shy of being "Do you? Do you? Now kiss," extended only for the niceties. Many guests couldn't figure out, "why a priest?" but there were whispers among them explaining that the kind, young priest was a friend of the couple and was doing the ceremony as a favor.

But what almost no one understood, beyond a very small select few, was why the groom kept one of his hands in his pocket for most of the ceremony. Some explained it away by nerves. Many explained it away by thinking that the groom didn't really care about all of the pageantry and the ceremony was purely for his new wife's sake. While this was true, it wasn't the reason Naru kept his hand in his pocket for most of the wedding, even to the point of awkwardness.

The handful of those who were "in-the-know" were aware that in his pocket was a small mirror. He kept touching it in order to make sure his Best Man could stand with him on his wedding day.


End file.
